Chapter 1

I am Loki

NOTES:

Hi everyone and welcome to chapter one our of five of 'Little Loki's big adventure.
First of all, thank you so much for trying out my story.

For those of you have read my other stories, this story has a similar feel as "A Tale of the Trickster and the Spider".

Anyway! without further ado, please enjoy the first chapter of this story!

With careful steps he made his way down the wide stairs, one small foot at a time. The white marble felt cold to the touch, every soundless step sending a chill up his spine.

He glanced at every corner of the large open space as he was finally at the bottom of the stairs, trying to find any form of recognizance. These halls were unfamiliar, he did not recognize the room he had woken up in and even the very air he breathed somehow felt different. One thing he knew for sure; He was not in the Asgardian palace anymore.

Nervous emerald eyes darted from left to right, carefully scanning the surrounding area.

'So, you going on another mission?'

Loki nearly jumped as he heard a man's voice coming from a nearby room. He quickly pressed his back against the wall, scooted over until he was near the door opening and managed to peek inside.

'Yes, I'll be joining Rhodey and Scott in a moment, it shouldn't take long before we return.'

Loki stared at a woman who had her back towards him. She had long, brown hair and was clothed in black pants, leather boots and a long red leather jacket. Her voice was different from that of the one he heard earlier. Not only was it female but there was also a strange accent to it that the trickster had never heard before.

He then focused on the other two grown-ups standing with her. The first was female, red hair, grey eyes, her expression soft and gentle. The other was male with short brown hair, his clothes seeming more casual. The trickster stared at them for a few seconds, hoping he would recognize at least one of them, but he didn't. The man looked strong and could easily pass as a palace guard, but he was not wearing any armory or weapons. The two women seemed fair and determent, reminding Loki of the Valkyrie.

'Anyone else got the feeling we're being spied on?' the man spoke as he slightly narrowed his eyes and tried to look past the two women, causing Loki to quickly hide behind the wall again.

'Not really,' the red-haired lady replied as she shrugged, 'maybe it's just your conscience lurking over your shoulder, Clint.'

'Hey, at least I still have a conscience.' The man countered with a smirk.

Loki observed them carefully, watching them talk together, laugh together. They did not seem hostile and it made him wonder whether he should ask them for help, or at least for directions. But he knew better. He was in an unknown environment, surrounded by strangers and, considering his surroundings, he assumed he was not even in the realm of Asgard anymore. He decided to stay low, maybe wait until nightfall and use the darkness as a cover to sneak out of this building.

'And who might you be, little one?'

A heavy voice pulled Loki straight out of his thoughts, he held his breath as he slowly turned around and looked up at a towering blond man.

With a shriek, the trickster stumbled backwards, tears nearly flooding his eyes as he now realized all eyes were on him. He looked around in a panic, his mouth slightly ajar as his breathing became shallow.

'What's this?' Clint was the first to speak after a brief moment of silence.

'That would be a child, I think,' Natasha Chuckled and she looked at the archer with a smirk. 'Surely you should know.'

'Oh, very funny,' Clint rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, 'I mean; Who is he? And most of all, how did he get in here?'

'Who knows,' Wanda shrugged and she crouched down, her eyes now meeting those of the raven, 'care to tell us who you are?' she asked with a gentle smile, her voice soft and kind, but she tilted her head slightly as the child did not reply.

'He seems rather familiar, would you not agree?' Thor said as he leaned over the child who was still looking at them with fear written across his face.

'I-I,' the raven stammered as he tried his best to sound strong and determent, 'I am Loki Odinson, second born child o-of Odin Borson and Frigga Fjörgynsdóttir a-and prince of Asgard!' he stated, his hands formed into softly trembling fists.

The four Avengers stared at him with wide open eyes, they then looked at each other and back at Loki again.

'No fucking way,' was the only thing Clint managed to reply with. 'You're Loki? Brother of Thor? Are you serious?'

'You know my brother?' Loki asked almost desperately, 'Could you please tell me where he is, Sir…?'

'Oh, uh, yeah, name's Clint, and these two are Natasha and Wanda,' the archer said as he pointed at the two women at his side, 'and that,' he looked at the god of thunder, 'that's your Thor.'

Loki looked up at the towering blond at his side with a puzzled expression and tilted his head. 'Brother…?' he asked, his voice soft, almost in a whisper.

'Aye,' the god nodded as he now crouched down, causing Loki to move a few inches back. 'Loki, how did this… what happened to you?'

'… You must be making jest…' Loki mumbled as he kept his distance. 'Y-you are not Thor! Yes, my brother is older than I am, but certainly not, well, like you! How dare you mock the soon to be king of Asgard!'

'Loki…' Thor sighed, wondering how to prove he was indeed the child's older brother. He then smiled as a plan came to mind. He reached out his hand under the watchful eye of the Avengers and the young raven, flinching as he heard glass shatter in the distance.

'What are you-' Loki started but he got silenced by the Asgardian weapon that flew straight into the god's hand. 'Mjölnir…' the raven whispered, his fingers scanning the metal of the hammer as Thor held it in front of him.

'That is correct,' the blond smiled. 'And as you know, only one is deemed worthy to wield her.'

'The god of thunder… Thor…' Loki looked at the blond for a second, then stood up and threw himself in his brother's arms. 'Brother, what happened? W-where are we?' he asked, his hands holding onto the man's shirt in clenched fists as he looked at the other Avengers from the corner of his eye.

'We are in Midgard, Loki,' Thor said as he stood up, holding his younger brother in his strong arms. 'but I believe the question would rather be; what happened to you?' he asked, only now noticing how the child nearly drowned in the oversized dark blue dress shirt he was still wearing.

'I, I do not recall…'

'Probably a spell that backfired,' Natasha guessed as she looked at Loki, wondering why she felt the sudden urge to hold the child and just hug him through the rest of the day. 'I do remember him saying something about wanting to practice his magic today.'

'Sounds scary, poor thing,' Wanda frowned in worry, a smile on her face as she brushed a stray lock of raven hair behind the trickster's ear. 'You're not injured, are you?' she asked kindly, happy to see the raven shake his head.

'"poor thing?"' Clint repeated with a raised brow, 'we are talking about the same guy here, right? God of Mischief, the Liesmith, the Silvertongue and what not? I mean, he's an Avenger now but,' but as he then looked at the small innocent child, who was trying to hide in his brother's arms, he sighed. 'Yeah, okay, I get it. Can't you do something about this, Thor?'

The god shook his head, 'I am afraid not, unfortunately. The art of Seiðr never had my interest, so my knowledge on this matter is near to nothing.'

'Well, we can't leave him like this forever, can we now?' Wanda said as she trailed the raven's sides with her fingers, causing Loki to giggle and squirm slightly under her touch. 'Okay, maybe we can.' She chuckled.

'I will seek help in Asgard,' Thor said and he looked at his baby brother. 'You hear me, Loki? I will have to go back home for a brief moment, but fear not, I will soon return.'

'What? No, you cannot go,' Loki said as his grip on Thor's shirt tightened. 'I will go with you!'

'Nay, my little brother. I believe it is best for you to stay here,' Thor then smiled and placed his hand on the raven's shoulder. 'Not to worry, you are in good company.' He turned his torso slightly, making Loki face his fellow Avengers, 'These are our friends, Loki. They are strong, much like the Einherjar. There are no hands in which you would be safer. Now, be brave and wait here for my return. Do you think you can do so?'

'Well,' Loki stared at the three adults in front of him and then back at Thor, softly muttering, 'yes brother, I will wait here…'

Thor smiled brightly, pressing his face against that of the trickster as he hugged him, 'that's the spirit, Loki.' He then turned to the others, 'my friends, please watch my baby brother in my absence,' he said as he handed the raven over to Wanda. 'Now you behave Loki. I will be back before you know it!' he said as he walked out of the room, leaving the three Avengers with his younger brother.

'…Well,' Wanda said after a short silence, 'as much as I'd like to stay, I'm afraid I'll have to go.' She pressed the tip of her nose against that of the child, causing him to softly chuckle again and she passed Loki onto Clint. 'Scott and Rhodes are waiting for me, but you'll take good care of him, right?' she then turned her attention to the young raven, giving him a quick kiss on his cheek. 'I do hope Thor will take a loooong time to find a remedy.' She smiled and walked out of the room.

Natasha and Clint stared at the closed door for a moment and then looked at each other.

'I'll go get him some clothes.'

'Clint, don't you dare...'

'Sorry, Nat, you'll have to take him for a little while. I'll be back soon, just gonna grab some clothes for him to wear, I'm sure one of my kids got something that'll fit him. Won't be long.' He said with a smile, handing the god of mischief over to her before she could object.

Now being the only two in the room, Natasha looked at Loki, 'you can walk, right?'

'Yes, Lady Natasha.' The trickster confirmed.

'Good,' she said, putting Loki back on his feet. 'So, what do you do for fun?'

'Well, I mostly spend my time playing with my brother and I like to read.'

'…Okay,' Natasha nodded as she took a deep breath and thought this through. With Thor gone and her own bookshelf consisting mostly of thrillers, she had to think of something else to entertain the raven. 'Follow me.'

Loki took hold of the Widow's hand, making sure not to let go as he did what he was told, following the red-haired woman into the lounge room.

'Okay, you wait here while I'll go, uhm, look for something for you to do, okay?' she said as she gestured the raven to take place on the white leather couch. 'You'll watch him for a minute, won't you?' She then said, turning her attention to the Winter Soldier who was casually sitting on the other side of the couch, legs crossed, reading his newspaper. The sternness in the assassin's voice making it sound more like a command than a question, leaving the soldier without much options.

Bucky lowered his newspaper for a minute, looking at the trickster from the corner of his eye as he took a sip of his coffee. 'Sure,' he said eventually as he shrugged, turning back to his paper.

'Wait, aren't you surprised by this?' Natasha raised her brows, not understanding why the soldier could stay so calm.

'I overheard you guys talking,' Bucky didn't look up this time.

'And you didn't even come in to check what was going on?'

'We're the Avengers, crazy shit happens. I don't really think there's anything out there that could surprise me.' He said with an unimpressed air though he could not help but look at Loki once more.

Natasha sighed and crossed her arms, 'You're hopeless, Barnes. Well, at least look after the kid till I'm back, okay?' the spy didn't wait for an answer as she disappeared to the stairs, heading straight for the bedroom quarters.

A silence followed as Bucky continued to read his paper, now and then shifting his gaze from the printed texts towards the small god who kept staring at him. 'What?' he eventually asked, trying to sound as kind as he could.

'Nothing, sir,' Loki replied, though his eyes were still glued on the soldier.

'Didn't your parents teach you that it's rude to stare?'

Loki looked down in shame, quickly averting his eyes towards the marble floor. 'My apologies, i-it is just,' he mumbled as he kept looking at the soldier from the corner of his eye, his feet dangling from the couch as he was just slightly too short to touch the floor. 'Your arm, sir. I think it is truly amazing. You are, like, part Midgardian and part Destroyer.'

Bucky's eyes widened in surprise, looking from the trickster to his arm, 'uh, thanks… I guess.'

'Might I, maybe…?' Loki asked as he looked at the tech, his fingers digging into the leather fabric of the couch as he tried to keep them from staying towards the arm.

'... Sure,' Bucky nodded, taking another sip of his drink while Loki quickly scooted next to him on his knees, his fingers now carefully scanning the cold metal.

'Here, you might like this,' the soldier said after a moment, handing Loki the comic section, a gentle smile forming on his face as Loki cautiously took it and started the giggle while he read.

About thirty minutes went by before Natasha returned with a book in her hands titled; "Sherlock". 'Okay, this might not really be a children's book but I think you'll like-' she stopped talking mid-sentence as she stared at the Soldier for a moment. 'Barnes,' she continued, irritation ringing through her voice, 'where's the kid?'

'What do you mean?' Bucky asked as his slightly squinted eyes peered at the assassin just over the edge of his paper. 'He's right-' he then looked at his side, finding the pages he had just handed to the raven carefully folded next to him, '…here.'

NOTES:

And that's it for the first chapter, really hope you liked it! :D next chapter will be up the day after tomorrow so hope you will all be looking forward to that!

Please leave a review and let me know your thoughts.

Lots of love,

Netherlands.